I have located another industrial source for potentially free IBC totes that might prove beneficial for anyone in the USA, and probably in other countries as well.
"Highway Paint Striping Companies". No kidding.
Now I know what you're thinking... "Paint = dangerous chemicals". That can certainly be the case, BUT it wasn't in the examples I recently found. Both the Sherwin-Williams and 3M produced paints end up essentially being non-toxic when cleaned or dried. I'll explain further since they don't start that way...
In all the cases I've seen (which would be a grand total of three, so do your homework), the health hazard issues with these paints comes in two forms: 1) Methanol, which means it is flamable and you don't want to absorb much through your skin... and 2) both Calcium Carbonate and Titanium Dioxide, which make great chalk, marble countertops, and underarm deoderant, but in this case you don't want to breathe it because inhaling those or the accompanying silicates is not a happy thing.
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BUT!!! According to the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)s, that you can download from here: http://www.paintdocs.com/msds/ , that's all that is listed under "toxicology data", and those three things can be washed out of the totes. Heck, if you're patient the methanol will evaporate on its own over time, leaving you with dried paint to chip out, but it looks to me like the paint doesn't adhere very well to the tote plastic, so that might not be such a chore. Note: I'm about to find out first hand, so I'll report back if I'm wrong about that. Of course, if someone more knowledgeable on the subject knows that I've overlooked something and am headed towards tragic results, I'd really appreciate a heads-up!
As far as the end result being toxic or not, let me quote from the MSDS itself:
"ECOTOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION
No data available.
WASTE DISPOSAL METHOD
Waste from this product is not hazardous as defined under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 40 CFR 261."
Since we have roads and highways as far as the eye can see, in all of our bountiful states, I'm hoping that someone out there who needs IBC totes will be able to contact a nearby striping company who might be grateful to unload some free of charge, just so they don't have to pay some recycler to take them off their hands. It would not surprise me if the same thing held true all over the globe.
Good luck!